


Grif the Vampire Slayer

by a_taller_tale



Series: Vampire AU [2]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Childhood, Gen, Vampire Hunters, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-24 02:16:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12002853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_taller_tale/pseuds/a_taller_tale
Summary: Grif saw his first vampire when he was six years old.Prequel one shot to "You Suck," aka "Why Grif is Afraid of Bats."





	Grif the Vampire Slayer

Grif saw his first vampire when he was six years old. 

Mom couldn’t really afford a baby sitter, so sometimes she left them home on their own, just while they were sleeping anyway. Dex was going to be in first grade, a whole year early. They didn’t have the money to get him tested or anything, but if he was a gifted kid then he was definitely smart enough not to open the door to strangers and put his baby sister back to bed if she got up a couple nights a week. 

That night Kai had actually noticed mom was gone, so she put up a huge tantrum. She was still a baby at two, kicking and crying until she was exhausted enough to fall back to sleep. 

Hopefully none of the neighbors got mad about it and told mom. He was big enough to take care of his sister and he didn’t want her to worry about more stuff than she had to. He wasn't even supposed to call her at work unless it was an emergency. One time Kai was sick and throwing up and Mom's boss at the club wouldn't put her on the phone and she got in trouble for him calling too. If they could handle stuff at home without anyone else getting involved, that was the best way. 

Dex was just getting back in his bed when he heard a scraping noise outside. They lived in a city, so he was good at blocking out the usual sounds like neighbors yelling at each other in the apartment across the yard, or car alarms, but this was different. He lay in bed in the dark listening. 

A sharp cry, someone was hurt. Moments later there was a swear and a crash, and this time he was a thousand percent certain it was his mom. His bare feet hit the floor and he struggled to move the dresser away from the fire exit and tugged at the door until the paint around it cracked and he was able to go out into the night and the metal fire escape. 

From his view on the second floor he could see his mom, using the dumpster out back to pull herself to her feet. “Mom!” 

“Dexter, go back inside!” his mom screamed at him, angry, but also scared. 

He didn’t see it until its glowing red eyes snapped up to his spot on the fire escape. It looked like a tall man at first, but even under its clothes he could see that its frame was almost skeletal, and the flesh from under its ragged clothes was leathery and stretched. 

It opened its mouth wider than a human, smiling with sharp jagged fangs and instead of turning back to his mother, it pivoted to the fire escape. Clawed hands clicked against the metal bars as it pulled itself up to where Dex stood paralyzed. _Click click click._

The skin of its arms were webbed and stretched like the wings of a bat, and it let out a triumphant screech, drool dripping out of its mouth as it closed in on him. Mom started running up the stairs, but she’d never catch it in time. The monster was so fast. 

It was a breath away from him when his mom threw herself off the stairs and grabbed the creature’s leg. It lost its grip, and it and mom crashed back to the ground from the second floor. 

Dexter was shaking, watching as his mom struggled to recover from the fall, somewhat stunned. The thing took the opportunity to take a bite of her arm. With an angry scream, she flipped them and managed to get on top of it, pulling a jagged stick out of her belt and plunging it surely into the monster’s chest. 

It shuddered and twitched and screeched, more bat than human, blood pulsing out of it as it struggled. Mom threw her weight into it, angling the weapon again and hitting something that made the creature still just before it exploded into dust. 

Mom panted until her breathing was normal again, finally looking up to where Dex was still shaking, holding onto the railing like the teddy bear he thought he was too old for now. “Meet me inside, Dexter.” 

Later, Dex watched her, perched on top of the fuzzy orange toilet seat cover while she bandaged herself up. She wasn’t acting like she did when she was mad, like when they colored on the walls, or that time he stole candy from the corner store. She didn’t seem mad at him for leaving the safety of the apartment anymore, but he was mad at himself. She told him never to go outside at night. She got hurt because of him. 

“Are you okay?” He asked hoarsely, and then put a fist up into his eye when he realized he was crying. 

“I’m okay, baby. Are you okay?” She ruffled his hair with the arm that wasn’t hurt. 

“Yeah,” he lied. 

She looked like she was going to say something about that, but she knew he was tough, so she didn’t. She finished wrapping her arm up and washed her make up from the club off, and... the excess blood from the bat creature. 

“So you know I have the job at the club.” He nodded. “Well, I also have another job. You could say it’s a job that’s been passed down in our family for generations.” 

Dex tilted his head. “The circus? Was that thing one of the freak show or something?” 

“Eh, no circus,” she said. “That was your gramps’ stupid cover for it. What you saw out there was a vampire, one of many different kinds. It’s a Grif family ancient call to duty to fight those guys. Vampires are the household pests of any city, and our family’s always been naturals at exterminating them.” 

Thinking of the bat man was going to give him nightmares for the rest of his life. “I liked the circus better.” 

“Yeah, me too.” She sat down on the edge of the tub, and pulled him into her side. The bigger he got, the less touchy-feely she was, so the hug was doubly comforting. “You know how you always protect Kai from the bigger kids on the playground?” 

He nodded, sniffling up as his eyes dried. 

“Vampires are like that. Except instead of stealing your toys, they eat you. That’s why I don’t like you to go outside at night. Not til you’re bigger.” 

Dex nodded tightly, hands clenching into fists in his pajama pants. He’d messed up everything and Mom was hurt and _monsters were real_. 

His mom flicked his nose. When he looked up, he was surprised to see her looking amused. “Do you want to learn how to fight them?” 

No, he never wanted to see one of those things ever again if he could help it. But thinking of how he froze on the fire escape, thinking of Kai ever seeing one of them... He had to make sure he never froze up like that. He had to be able to protect his family. “Yeah.” 

They started training the next day. 


End file.
